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CUSTOMER SERVICE Customer Service is King September Reed Gift Fair Summit Report David Jenkins - Author, What Great Retailers Do Jenkins believes that what many retailers get wrong is believing that their customers and their location is the most important asset of their business. These can be copied, he says. Your best asset needs to be your unique set of values and beliefs. Business owners are leaders and are responsible for ensuring all staff is on the same page when it comes to the store’s core values. Staff needs to present a unified belief system to customers. Exceptional customer services means believing that each customer that comes into the store is a treasured guest and treating them accordingly. Jenkins says when customers return to the store complaining about a purchase and requesting a refund, the natural inclination of staff is to protect the business. To treat customers like treasured guests, we need to go against this assumption and think first about protecting the customer. A supermarket in Dublin is the first in the world to install a ‘Customer Service Centre’ at the front of the store where customers can approach staff and request help for things such as locating items on the shelves. It’s a simple idea that delivers remarkable customer service. The supermarket has a loyal customer base who know the lengths staff will go to help them has no bounds. When lines at the check-out are slow, a staff member apologises over the PA system for the delay. Jenkins says when he was last visiting the supermarket, he saw a customer approach the customer services desk saying she only wished to purchase half a box of cereal. The staff member promptly got on the PA system and called for any other customers in the store who might like to purchase 34 National Newsagent - October 2008 the other half. This is truly unrivalled customer service. The supermarket has a strict hiring policy based on the motto, “hire the smile, train the skill”. Potential employees must smile within the first five minutes of the interview or else they are out of contention for the job. This applies to executives, truck drivers and floor staff. As Jenkins says, this wisdom is supported by a Chinese proverb ‘no one without a smiley face should have a shop’. Pre-eminent hotel chain the Ritz-Carlton similarly leads the world in customer service. Its management doesn’t hire new staff from the industry; they hire people who have the capacity to care for their customers. Their motto is “we are ladies and gentlemen serving ladies and gentlemen. “ Brian Walker - The Retail Doctor Group The Retail Doctor’s approach is to ensure all retailers are ‘fit’ retailers: strong, well-prepared and successful. His motto is ‘Retail is Detail’. Fit retailers, he says, have a consistently replicable retail model. They do the basics well, focus on the details and have one particular feature that makes their business difficult to complete with. The Retail Doctor says the first premise of fit retailing is that every business is for sale. Owning a small business is not about building a great job, it’s about building great wealth, and working toward an asset that can be sold for a profit. The average business sells for about ten times its annual profit – so think about the potential! Great retailers know from day one how much profit their business can make and work toward a figure the business can be sold for in the future. Part of this premise is ensuring the business does not rely “Your best asset needs to be your unique set of values and beliefs” on you, the owner. Investors will only buy a business that has systems and an operational framework in place such as training manuals, promotional/ advertising guides etc. Furthermore, business owners need to know their store’s product development plan. What’s your next big hero product? Where are new product lines coming from? The Retail Doctor says focusing on your store’s transition zone at the front entrance is the key to attracting customers and pulling them into the store. Don’t confuse them with too many messages. Have one solid message at the front, ‘I want you to buy X’ not ‘I want you to buy X and X and X’. Aim to have customers exit the store in a different spot to where they entered- even if it’s only two feet away, this takes them on a journey. For more information visit: www.retaildoctor.com.au